Page 50 of Captured Immune

Last night, Victor almost killed me. I’ll bet if no one was around, he would have. When I was trapped in his tornado, I sensed his rage and need to bang me against the ceiling until every bone in my body was in pieces.

“Victor has to care about you somewhat,” Katie says. “He’s asked me to check on you at least five times a day since that night in the battle box.”

That night in the battle box?Instantly, the haze clears from my head. “Say again?”

“I said that Victor’s gotta care about?—”

“No, no. Not that. What was the last part?”

“Um, that he’s asked me to check on you multiple times since that night in the battle box?”

My body stills. “And how many nights ago was that?”

“Three.”

“Three?”She’s gotta be kidding me.

“Being shrunk does a lot of trauma to a person’s body. Not to mention you were shrunk and reshrunk almost ten times in a matter of five minutes.”

I don’t remember that. I must have passed out by that point. I point to the IV sticking out of my arm. “What the hell is this for?”

“Fluids and pain medication, according to the nurse. She said you’d need at least another two days to fully heal, but Victor insisted on getting you back into the battle box today.”

I let out afuck thatchuckle. “What makes him think I’m gonna willingly allow people to torment me like that?”

“I don’t think you have a choice. Victor won’t stop this research just because it causes you a little pain.”

“A little? I was knocked out cold for three days! I’d rather be a lion’s chew toy than ever get volun-told to participate in that bullshit again.”

“While you’ve been out, other people have been volunteering. Victor’s tried countless methods to get the Immune to project onto someone other than you. So far, every test has been unsuccessful.” Katie straightens her back and smiles. “Now do you think you can get up? We don’t want to keep Victor waiting.”

11

ARELLA

Two days ago,I woke up to Katie strolling into my prison room, carrying a food tray.

“Wakey wakey!” she said in her overly cheery voice. I wasn’t sure if she did that because she’s naturally cheerful or if she thinks it would make me less anxious about being held captive against my will. “I wasn’t sure what you’d want, so I grabbed one of everything.” She placed the tray onto the nightstand. It was covered with an assortment of baked breakfast goods and a glass of milk. Then she drew out a metal key from her pocket to uncuff my ankle from the bedframe.

Before going to sleep the night before, I had convinced Katie to cuff my ankle instead of my wrist. It was hard to sleep with my arm like that.

“Last night was a big night for you,” Katie said. “You made the first step to controlling your immunity. Victor’s so thrilled, he added four new meetings to your calendar to try it again.”

I hated how she said all that like I was an employee here. I sat up and rubbed the crust from my eyes. “Where’s Trey?”

Katie scooted her folding chair closer to the bed. Her energy, all anxious and apprehensive, wafted toward me. “He’s still in the infirmary.”

“Is he okay?”

“He’s not dead, if that’s what you’re wondering.” Between Katie’s uneasy emotions shooting at me and the troubled look on her face, I assumed Trey wasn’t doing too hot.

When Craig the Hulk shrunk him over and over, Trey threw up four times and coughed up blood. No matter how much I begged, Victor refused to let me hold him. That heartless man kept pinning me down and screaming at me to project my immunity onto Trey from across the battle box. Projecting onto Trey while he was in the tornado had felt like a one-off chance. I didn’t know how I had done it or how to do it again.

I cried hysterically while Victor kept shouting, “Focus! Focus!” into my ear. Because, you know, shouting at people like that is helpful. When Trey, the size of a cat, slumped onto the floor and didn’t look like he was breathing, I lost it.

I screamed at the ceiling, and somehow, I did something to make Trey return to his normal size. After that, no matter how hard Craig tried, he couldn’t shrink Trey again.

Then and only then did Victor call for someone to drag poor, unconscious Trey to the infirmary. In the meantime, Katie and Craig escorted me back to my prison room. With my ankle cuffed to the bed, I cried myself to sleep, wondering if I’d ever see Trey again.

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